Tainted Cherries
by The Non-Existent Clock
Summary: What if The Hunger Games was not a competition, but a hunt? What if the tributes were united against a common enemy? EXTREMELY AU. ONLY USING OCs.
1. Chapter 1, Desirae POV

**Desirae POV**

I cling to the side of the cage, paralysed as the bodies of other children slam against my own.

My teeth chatter and I'm crying, whimpering. Everyone seems to have gone mad, throwing themselves against the side of the cage and crying and screaming and God, I can't take this.

Without a single thought for the others, I let go of the cage and swing my fist, hitting someone. I can't even hear the cry of pain—it's too loud. "Shut up! Just shut up!" I scream. My voice is drowned out.

I'm a Bug. A normal human being. I'm normal in every sense except for the fact that I was born to be hunted.

Actually, I wasn't even born like a normal human being. I was created by the LESCS (Living Entity Spawn Computing System), a computing system used to design a human. It would decide my appearance, the age of which I was spawned and to some degree, my personality.

I was designed by a Centipede. Centipedes are these crazy psycho people who pay a huge sum of money to participate in the Bug Extermination, where they are dropped into a hunting ground where they hunt down Bugs … like me.

Bugs are children ranging from ages eight to eighteen. Each Centipede gets to design ten of them. Since there are ten Centipedes, there are a hundred of us. Centipedes are given that name because they have a hundred of us to deal with, just like the common myth that centipedes have a hundred legs to deal with. I assume we're called Bugs because centipedes eat bugs.

The Bug Extermination takes place quadrennially. It takes place in the Centipedes' Grounds, the hunting grounds. It's called that because the Centipedes dominate this place.

This place that I'm going to die in.

It's quite beautiful, actually. We're in the centre of a massive garden? Park? Meadow? To my left is a huge mansion and to my right is a thick grove of cherry trees. There are so many that I think they should be used for commercial purposes. Further away, beyond the cherry trees, is a neighbourhood with a street and houses and a hospital. Behind the mansion I think I see more houses with a carnival or a fair. The whole place looks perfectly normal and no one would think these were the grounds of multiple massacres.

I push through the crowd, stumbling through all the people. I struggle to get to the other side, where the doors of the cage are. Soon, they will open and we will all get out of this cage. I see neat rows of brown paper parcels close to the door of the cage. There are a hundred in total; each of us is supposed to take one, but I know there will be Bugs taking as many as possible. I should grab at least two. If everyone grabs two, then half the Bugs won't get a parcel. But I mustn't bother about them.

It won't be easy but I have to be selfish and look out for myself.

Each parcel contains some food, a knife, water, rope and a little special goodie. They can be anything from guns to bombs to extra food. No parcel contains the same goodie as another. I hope I will get something good.

After we grab the parcels we won't be allowed to simply run off before the Centipedes come. I can see the electric fence surrounding us, cutting us off from the mansion, the cherry trees and the rest of the Grounds. After the Centipedes enter the Grounds, the Countdown starts. That is when we will be allowed to run. We only get thirty seconds to flee. After these thirty seconds, the Centipedes are free to pursue us, and the Bug Extermination would have begun.

No, it can't begin. What can I do, what can I do, what can I do. I'm going to die and there has to something that will make me not die; I can't die, I won't die. There has to be something.

I'm going to die. Little eight year olds are going to die too. And there is nothing we can do!

The only way I could live would be to kill all the Centipedes. But how? There's no way. They're too well-armed. If we kill all of them, then we are technically freed and we will be put into orphanages. But how could we fight them?

I choke on my tears. "There must be something!" I slam my fists against the cage doors. "Isn't there something I can do?"

My nose is runny. I have only lived for a week. I am supposed to be fifteen years old but I'm really only a week old. I'm like a newborn. Newborns shouldn't die.

I grasp the cage doors and rattle them. "I shouldn't die!" I scream till my throat is raw.

That is when I notice the cage doors are slowly opening. "It's going to —" I am cut off abruptly as the other Bugs start pushing against me and I am pressed against the slowly moving cage doors. "S-stop!" I cry. They're mad! They're all mad.

The cage doors open enough to let me through. All the Bugs in front (including me) fall to the ground. I try to pick myself up but people are already scrambling over us, running towards the paper parcels.

Distracted by the mini-stampede, my fear of the Centipedes gives way to my fear of not getting a parcel.

Terror seizes me. They're going to get all the parcels. What if there are none left for me?

"No!" I choke out. I grab at whatever is above me for support. I end up grabbing someone's leg and the Bug crashed to the ground, yelling. Without even looking at the person, I jump up and dash for the parcels. Quickly, I grab a parcel.

I find myself rolling on the ground, fighting with another girl for its contents.

Holding the parcel with one arm, I lash out at the girl with my arm. I beat her face with my fist and she attempts to turn away. Her fingernails scratch at my arms and I feel beads of blood on my skin.

But I don't feel the pain. Instead, I pull at the parcel as hard as I can. I hear the paper rip, just as I had planned.

The food, water, knife, rope, goodie falls out. The other girl gasps and we scramble for the items.

I'm too late. She grabs the goodie and the knife. I can't fight her. Instead, I turn and grab the nearest two parcels.

I pick it up and hold the two parcels close to my body. They're my only hope now. Them and my team. If I can find one.

Without a good team I cannot survive. I turn to the girl I was fighting earlier. "That was a good fight you put up. Do you want to join me?"

The girl looks stunned. She scrunches up her nose, which makes her look weird, since her nose looks as if it has been broken before. Then she shrugs, tossing her short, tangled red hair. "Why not?"

I smile, relieved. Someone to cover my back. "Oh good. I was worried you'd reject."

"Nah, I wouldn't. I was worried that I wouldn't find anyone to team up with." She sticks out her hand, struggling to hold her goodie and another parcel. "I'm Cat, short for Catherine. Nice to meet you."

I shake her hand. I hope she doesn't think I am a wimp because of the tear stains on my face. "I'm Desirae. Nice to meet you."

She nods and goes straight down to business. "We need to find some other people. Without a team we can't survive. Let's find a small team with strong, smart people."

Turning away, I look for strong-looking people. Then, all of a sudden, I see someone running towards us, swinging a knife.

Letting out a choked scream, I realise he wants our parcels. That is the only explanation. "Run!" I tell Cat, stumbling back, prepared to run. Just as I turn around, I hear a startled cry.

I look over my shoulder. The boy is swaying back and forth with a dazed look on his face. A red dart is lodged in his shoulder. Finally he closes his eyes and falls backward like a felled ox.

Cat stands there, starting at the dart gun in her hand. It must be her goodie.

I look at the boy. "Is he … dead?"

Dropping down to my knees, I reach over and grasp his wrist. I can feel a steady pulse.

"It's a tranquilizer," Cat says. She looks stunned.

I shake my head. "That's amazing. Thanks Cat. I'm glad we didn't kill him though."

"No problem. But we've essentially killed him anyway. I really do doubt he'll wake up in time to flee the Centipedes when they come."

I leap to my feet. "What?" I cry. "He's going to die and it'll be our fault."

"No, it's his fault for trying to attack you. We acted in self-defense. He'll die anyway, with or without us shooting him. He's obviously too dumb to survive. He was stupid enough to attack a pair of Bugs on his own."

"Isn't there something we can do? I am not going to leave a poor boy to die!"

Cat laughs humorlessly. "What do you expect to do — drag his unconscious body along as we run? We'd never make it."

She's right. I hate to say it but she is right. "Fine," I mutter.

We walk around the area, looking for a team to join. Many Bugs are still fighting over parcels. Some have brought out knives and goodies they got from the parcels and are threatening the others for their parcels. More than half the Bugs don't have a parcel.

"Desirae! Look," Cat exclaims all of a sudden, pointing in the direction of the cherry trees.

I turn to look. A muscled boy, a lanky boy and a freckled ginger are pummelling the life out of three younger Bugs. The younger Bugs are clinging to their parcels, wailing and crying for help. The muscled boy manages to rip the parcel from the boy he is beating up and takes the knife out of it. He starts yelling at the Bug he was fighting and the poor Bug flees.

"What! They're such bullies!" I cry. They are not fighting over the parcels. They are beating up other Bugs for their parcels. It is very different from what Cat and I had been doing.

I start towards them but Cat pulls me back quickly. "No! Don't. They're doing it to survive. Besides, I think they would be good teammates. They are strong, resourceful and smart."

"Hah! They'll beat us up on first sight."

"No they won't." She starts to jog towards the team, stopping only a few metres from them. She eyes the freckled boy, who struggles with his victim. The girl he is fighting starts to claw his face. The ginger raises both arms to protect his face involuntarily, and the girl leaps to her feet and begins to flee.

"Phil! Get her!" the muscled boy screams as the ginger.

Phil and the muscled boy (who seems to be the leader) run after the girl, but Cat is faster. She drops her parcels on the ground and whizzes past them and tackles the girl. The girl falls to the ground with a surprised "oomph" and Cat snatches her parcel away, raising it above her head victoriously.

The leader runs at Cat but she points her tranquilizer gun at them. "Back off," she snarls. The leader freezes.

I start towards them, holding Cat's and my parcels, and Phil gives me a nervous glance. "Cat, what are you —"

She waves me off. "Let my buddy and I into your team and I'll give you five parcels, including this."

The leader glares at us. "That would mean I have _eight_ people in my team. That is two too many."

"She's fast and strong, you already saw. We're small-sized, so we won't eat much," I tell Ryan. They're our best hope at survival. Forget morals, I want to live! I don't mind teaming up with horrible people if it means I get to live.

"Okay, but why should I let _you_ into my team?" the leader replies, pointing his knife at me. "What's stopping us from beating you up and letting only your friend into our team?"

I shoot Cat a frantic look. The lanky boy finally defeats his victim and steps towards us slowly. We're surrounded.

"T-the fact that the darts in my gun are tipped with poison!" Cat shouts, her voice laced with fear. Her voice quavers at the end.

"We don't believe you," Phil snarls. "Your voice is quaking."

"Will you take the risk?" I question. "Why would they give her a dart gun that doesn't have poison or _anything_? What's the point? What is the use of a simple dart? No, there's poison."

The leader looks at the other two boys and they shrug. "Fine," the leader says reluctantly. "You're in. But if you're too slow, we ditch you. Got it?"

"I assure you, we won't."

The leader cracks his knuckles and the boys walk toward three other Bugs, who must be their teammates. There's a mousy-haired frail-looking boy, a shaking redhead and a tall, beautiful blonde girl.

The blonde girl throws her arms around the leader. "Ryan! I was so worried you were going to be shot!"

Ryan laughs. "You know nothing will stand in our way, Diane."

Cat and I exchange looks. Are they … flirting? At a time like this?

Then I understand. Diane is _using_ Ryan. She wants him to be attracted to her so she can command him around. She's smart.

Phil and the lanky boy glare at Ryan, and I realise Diane has all three of them around her little finger.

The redhead walks towards us. "H-hi."

"Hello," I say. She is so scared that I'm beginning to feel terrified myself.

"I'm M-Myrtle. Our leader i-is Ryan, the girl he's w-w-with is Diane, the ginger is Phil. The t-tall boy is John and the mousy-haired boy is … is Theo."

"I'm Cat and she's Desirae. Nice to meet you."

Myrtle flashes us a timid smile. "They isn't really any poison in your dart gun, is there?"

Cat and I glance at each other. "Yes," I say, but Cat says "no" at the very same time.

"Oh well. I … I won't r-rat the two of you out," Myrtle reassures us. "It was pretty smart. You think fast. And —"

Myrtle is cut off abruptly when a booming voice fills the area through what I assume are hidden speakers. "Greetings, Bugs!" The voice echoes throughout the entire area and it is too loud, too loud. Cat's mouth is moving but I can't hear her as the announcer continues to speak.

"I assume you have all gotten a parcel each?"

Some Bugs smirk while others mutter "no".

"Good, good! For those who don't have a parcel, well, this is your chance to shine with the little resources you have! Now, I am Magnus Sonor, and I'll be kickstarting the Bug Extermination!" He whoops loudly.

"Yay," Cat mutters unenthusiastically during the pause.

"Are you all excited? This is going to be fun! Our wonderful Centipedes are going to be coming very soon!"

There were cries of outrage. "He's making a mockery of this!" I exclaim. He's cruel. He's taunting us.

"What do you expect?" Cat sighs.

"Burn in hell, Centipedes!" I hear someone scream.

There is a stunned silence. I think Magnus can hear whatever we are saying, because he has fallen silent too.

"Burn in hell!" a different person yelled.

"Burn in hell, Centipedes! Burn, burn, burn!" another Bug screeches.

That's when it begins.

"Burn in hell, Centipedes! Burn, burn, burn!" the Bug repeats, and another Bug picks up the chant.

The energy and anger is flowing through all of us now, and more and more Bugs pick up the chant. I'm usually self-conscious but this time I am chanting along. I chant till my throat is raw. Cat looks at me and begins to chant as well, albeit quieter.

Magnus Sonor says something but I can't hear a thing — it's so loud.

"Burn!" a Bug's voice is louder than the others and most of us can hear it. "Hurt them, kill them, don't let them die slowly!"

There is a rousing cheer and the Bugs start chanting, faster, louder. We stomp on the ground and soon I can't make out what the Bugs are saying. Some Bugs are speaking slowly while others scream out the words in a crazed, fast manner. I don't think even they are saying the same words anymore. Many Bugs trail off, confused, while others are yelling louder and louder.

Cat looks at me nervously but I ignore her, yelling the original chant. It is pure chaos — people screaming all sorts of things, stomping, pounding their fists against the ground.

Suddenly a high-pitched sound that must be from the speakers explodes — yes, _explodes_ — through the area, ending the chaos. I drop to my knees, covering my ears. It hurts badly, and I feel something warm and wet trickle from my ears. I pull my hands away and see blood. I'm not the only one.

My ears are ringing.

We stumble to our feet. Cat's mouth is opening and closing and I can hear Magnus Sonor's muffled, angry voice, but I can't decipher what he's saying. Slowly I begin to hear again and just in time to hear him say, "Put your hands together to welcome the Centipedes!"

The Bugs gasp and a few run towards the electric fence. "They're coming? They're coming!" Cat cries, white as a sheet. My heart leaps so much that I choke on my saliva.

There is a theatrical boom and clods of dirt and grass fly out from the cage. The force pushes Cat and I back and we fall flat on our backs. A cloud of dust billows around it. I scramble to my feet, hauling Cat up. I dash towards the electric fence. I fall down halfway because I am still disorientated, but I manage to make it there. Every Bug flees from the centre of the explosion, running till everyone is all standing right in front of the electric fence. I am careful not to touch it.

When the dust clears, I see ten adults in black camo standing in a glass cylinder where the cage used to be.

The Centipedes.

No, no, no. No no no!

The Centipedes!

I let out a strangled scream. Some Bugs stumble back. Someone pukes. I hear a "zap" somewhere to my right as a Bug falls into the electric fence. I don't have to look at him to know that he is dead. My vision swims all of a sudden, swirling towards the left and I stumble. Cat grabs my arm.

The adults press against the glass excitedly. There is a crazed-looking ginger who is slamming his fists and a knife against the glass, screaming incoherent words and excitement. There is a woman and a man with sleek black hair who look very similar. Then there is the impatient plump woman, who taps on the glass furiously. There is the tall, beautiful woman who smiles at us calmly as if she is not about to murder us all. Amongst all of the Centipedes they stand out the most.

I clutch Cat's arm and whimper. Magnus Sonor laughs heartily.

Without warning, the crazy ginger launches himself at us, screaming "Buggies!"

I subconsciously flinch away. He slams against the glass _hard_ and crumples to the ground. But he doesn't react in pain. He simply sits on the ground, laughing hysterically as the woman with the sleek black hair grabs his curly hair and slams him against the glass wall hard enough the make his nose bleed. His blood smears all over the glass, but he just continues to laugh.

"Claude! You … you annoy me!" she yells.

Claude licks his blood and I shudder. "Red ink!" he croons.

The woman kicks him and he falls, but he still looks happy. "That's not nice of you! But since I'm nice, I'm forgive you," he says.

Ivana draws her leg back to kick again, but the man who looks like her puts his hand on her shoulder. "Let's deal with him later."

"Ivan's right," the plump woman says. "Let's not make a scene."

"Brace yourselves, Bugs, and get ready! The Bug Extermination will begin in a few minutes," Magnus Sonor says.

I crumple to my knees weakly. "We're going to die. We're going to die. We can't face them."

Cat kneels next to me. "We can. Hurry, we don't have much time." She takes my parcel and tears it open. A knife, a flask of water, a jar of pills, a coil of rope, a folded-up backpack, a two vials of green liquid and various items fall out.

"What is this?" I half-scream, half-cry. "What do I do with this?"

Frowning at me, Cat grabs the vial and inspects it. "I know this. It's a type of poison. It numbs paralyses the victim when it enters their body. In small doses it acts as a painkiller but it makes the person sluggish. In large doses, it kills them."

"Yeah, o-okay. I guess that's … that's good," I sniffle.

I tuck the pills into the backpack. They are food pills, meant to fill and nourish me in the place of food. Cat opens the other parcel while I stuff everything into my bag, except for the knife, which I tuck into my boot.

The next parcel's goodie is a pack of grey cylinders which fit in my hand snugly. They are smoke vents, and if I pull off the cap of one of the cylinders, it sends grey smoke into the air. Good for getaways, I suppose.

I try to stuff more food and water into my bag but I leave the extra sleeping bag and rope. I hold the second knife in my hand. I have to run soon, but my legs are going to buckle. I can't run.

Diane stood by, taking a deep, shaky breath.

"Don't worry, D-Diane. I'll protect you," Ryan says, but his voice shakes. Diane doesn't seem to hear him.

Theo is lying on the ground, sobbing. He's only nine. I don't know why Ryan let him into the team. I wonder if it was out of pity. I guess Ryan does have a heart.

"Well, Bugs, the time has come." Magnus Sonor sounds more serious.

"No. No," I whimper.

Bugs are crying, screaming.

"You get thirty seconds before the Centipedes come after you, so use that time wisely! Holes will appear in the electric fence, but it'll still be active, so be careful."

It's madness. I can't take this.

"The Bugs have a thirty-second head start. And the Bug. Extermination. Begins. In three …" Magnus Sonor began.

Hyperventilating, tensing, crying.

"Two."

He basks in our fear. Magnus Sonor loves suspense.

"One." Cue the screams.

"GO!"


	2. Chapter 1, Rickard POV

**I'm updating twice in one day. Not because I am a crazy fast writer, but because I more than ten parts pre-written. So I'll be updating twice a day until I catch up with myself. Do note, I do write pretty fast. Thank you** ** _very_** **much, Emmeline Phoenix12 for following and favouriting my story; it really lifts my spirits.**

 **Rickard POV**

Sometimes we have to do horrible things in order to get what we want. I'm sure everyone does it.

Me, I want to live. So doing horrible things to get what I want is _justified._ It is in no way my fault. I have no qualms against what I'm going to do. I do not feel guilty for even entertaining these thoughts.

I have to survive the Bug Extermination.

So I don't feel guilty, I really don't.

I know that most of the people around me will surely die and I am strangely okay with that. They panic and shout and cry. They aren't strong or smart enough to survive.

But although I should, I'm not panicking. Everything feels surreal and I am oddly calm. Today, I either live or die. If I live through today, then tomorrow it repeats, whether I die or not. And it goes on. It's like a game of smarts, a computer game. I have to follow the instructions and work my way through the game. That's all.

Then I laugh at myself; that is a simpleton's view of the situation. Everything is much more complicated than that.

A game is much too simple to make such a comparison.

I should do something about my situation now, but there is little I can do in the chaos. Still, I poke my eyes and rub my nose to make it seem as if I have been crying. It's all part of my plan. But I don't overdo it, because I don't want other Bugs to think I'm a gross little kid. Gross little kids rarely find a team.

Kind of like the idiot boy standing next to me. He looks to be about ten or eleven and is bawling his eyes out. Snot and tears make a disgusting mixture on his face. His face is red and he eventually sinks to the ground, screaming.

He will never find a team.

And I am very stunned when a girl who looks to be seventeen pushes forward and starts to soothe him. "Do you want to be in my team?"

"Y-yes."

The idiot boy has found a team before me! I cannot believe it. I simply can't.

Anyway, this is a chance I can't miss. This is my one and only chance to find a team — no other person would accept me.

I walk towards them. "Can I … may I join your team too?" I raise my voice so that she can hear me, but I purposefully whimper and stutter.

She smiles at me. "Why, of course …"

"Rickard. My name is Rickard."

Score! That was easy. This girl is not very smart, letting little kids into her team.

"How old are you? Nine?"

I'm actually ten, but I nod. This girl has an eternal well on sympathy, pity (and possibly stupidity) and the more sympathy I get, the better. She may even get me an extra parcel later if I'm lucky.

"I'm Anne." She then sighs. "You two shouldn't be here. You're too young. You don't deserve —"

Then she is pushed forward without warning. Less than a second later I am slammed against the cage doors, people pushing at me in their mad rush.

I realise the cage doors are opening.

The Bugs are struggling to get to the parcels, but the cage doors haven't opened enough. Right now, it's a mass of people pushing against the doors.

I look down. Maybe, since I'm small …

I push at the other Bugs, wriggling as I slip beneath them. Someone accidentally kicks me in the face and I swear. Still, I manage to wriggle under the slowly-expanding gap between the door and the ground.

When I get out, I realise I am the second person to get out of the cage.

And I run as fast as I can, sprinting towards the parcels. But I realise just how slow I am when other Bugs start to get out and I am not even halfway there.

I gasp and pant, trying to run faster, but the bigger Bugs easily overtake me. By the time I reach the parcels, there around thirty Bugs already there, trying to grab as many parcels as possible.

Perhaps I can get two parcels. I have more or less lost my head start, but it's fine. I lunge for a parcel and manage to make away with it.

When I make the move to get another, an older boy pushes me to the ground. "Get outta here," he snarls. "You'll die soon. No point wasting resources on you."

He reaches for my parcel and I turn away, screaming. "No!"

"Stop!" Someone pushes the boy from me. I gasp. It's Anne.

"You're such a bully!" she lectures. "Leave him alone. You already have one parcel. Everyone is supposed to have one each!"

"Oh, _come on!"_ the boy exclaims. "Are you serious? Look, sometimes you have to bend the rules, baby."

Anne's eyes flash with anger. I do agree with the boy, of course. I have no qualms against depriving another person of a parcel. But if someone tries to take my parcel … well, I won't allow that.

The boy takes a step towards me, but Anne blocks his way. "Rickard, Al, go get two more parcels. I deal with this guy."

The other boy, who must be Al, gives a nervous sidelong glance. "Let's go," I say.

We run around the place, looking for more parcels. Surprisingly, quite a few of the smaller children have parcels. They probably slid under the cage door earlier on like me.

I point at a young girl looking around nervously. I'm sure Al and I can take her on if we work together. She's probably around my age. I eye the parcel that she hugs to her body as she huddles in a corner.

Al shrugs. "Okay."

We walk towards her carefully. Al and I are not as innocent and kind as Anne must think we are. Did she really expect us to find a parcel without getting beaten up or beating someone up?

I hug my parcel to my body. I know that I'm an easy target.

I gets to the girl first. "Hey … do you want to join our team?"

She stares at me. "Okay …"

I extend an arm. She grabs it tentatively to pull herself up. It is Al who lurches forward and snatches the parcel away.

"No!" she lets out a terrified cry. "Give it back!"

"I'll get it," I lie, and run after Al. She runs after us slowly, but too slow to catch us. She has to be eight or so and she stops after we vanish into the crowd, and sobs.

"I feel bad," Al murmurs.

I chuckle. "Don't. We had to do it."

We go back to where we last saw Anne. She is sitting there with the boy she was fighting with originally.

"Rickard! Al! There you are! And … oh, good job! You managed to find another parcel."

I give her a sweet smile, then stare at the boy. "What's _he_ doing here?"

"Well, we made peace, and he's going to join our team. He's called William. William, this is Rickard and Al."

I have to resist the urge to snort. Anne is such a peacemaker. Soon she'll be encouraging us to make peace with the Centipedes!

William grumbles. "I can't believe I'm in a group with —"

"Hey William! Did you manage to get an extra … What are you doing with them?"

"New team." He sighs. "Join me. We can't survive with only two people."

The boy looks stunned. Then he furrows his brows. "Can't we find a better team? This is ridiculous. And I want to be the leader of my own team."

WIlliam shrugs. "Well, Liam, good luck finding a team that will let you become leader so easily!"

Liam mutters under his breath. "Fine." He drops the two parcels that he has grabbed on the ground. "Well, what are your names?"

"I'm Anne, the leader. This are Rickard and Al. Nice to meet —"

"Shut up. Can't be bothered with pleasantries. We've got to make a plan to survive."

He tosses Anne a parcel, so each of us have a parcel. "Firstly, let's get more parcels. Then, when —"

"Hold it! What do you mean, 'get more parcels'? We have a parcel each! We don't need anymore! We can't take other people's parcels."

Liam, William and I roll our eyes. "Lookie here, _Annie._ Some people are not going to get any parcels. It's a fact. And since they were weak enough to not get a parcel, they will die. And neither of us can prevent it. Do you understand?" Liam yells.

"But we've got to give them a fighting chance, at least! We Bugs have to work together!" Anne argues.

"It's survival of the fittest," William says. "If I have to kill you to live, I'll do so."

I wisely do not participate in this argument. I don't want any enemies, and I want Anne to think I am a sweet little boy.

"Guys, stop fighting … Anne's right, we gotta work together!" Al whinges.

"I quite agree with your leader," a voice comes up. "To take another's parcel would be … unscrupulous, to say in the least. Only the lowest of the low would attempt such a thing. Also, may I join your team?"

" _What?"_ Anne peered at the short girl staring up at her. "Who are you? Why do you want to join our team? How old are you?"

"You may call me Drea," the girl declared grandly. "And since I am hard-pressed to find a team, I would truly like to join you fellow Bugs. I am aged fourteen."

She isn't speaking normally. She pauses to think through every tough word, so I know that it doesn't come naturally to her.

"Stop talking like that! This is not funny!" Liam exclaims. "Stop showing off or I'll hit you."

"Oh, but I am not showing off." Drea cocks her head to the side and gives him a hostile stare. "Why would you persecute me for speaking in my usual tones?"

Liam groans loudly and turns away. "You can join! We won't say no to anyone!" Anne says quickly.

We all stare at her.

"You … won't say no to anyone?" Liam says incredulously as he turned around. "What. Wha-at. You can't accept every goddamn Bug into our team. And that reminds me, you've got to kick those to out," he pointed at Al and I, "because they'll hinder us. They're too dumb. We don't need such wimps! Dump them!"

Al lets out a cry of protest and I do so too, but I am not scared. I know that Anne is too nice to kick us out, and if she ever does, it will be because Liam physically forces her to.

I cling to Anne, but it is all an act. I need to keep up the pretense of being a terrified nine-year-old.

"Al and Rickard are not acquaintances, they are friends," Drea insists. "And we do not 'dump' friends. Don't be a snivelling coward, you rather unremarkable hinny. Don't you want to die a magnanimous person? They may not be proficuous, but still —"

"Stop using big words!" Al yells. "You're scaring me!"

Drea looks upon Al with pity. "I'm sorry, dear. I'm a sesquipedalian. That is a person who uses tough words. Do you happen to be a sesquipedalian?"

It's quite obvious that Drea is just doing this to seem smart, so we will see her as useful and let her have some power. But using big words doesn't necessarily imply intelligence. I will have to wait and see how she is like. But up till now, I'll be careful of her. She seems to be relatively intelligent.

She could be a threat.

Of course, I can't voice this out. It's a level of thinking higher than that of an nine-year old's. I know I'm definitely smarter beyond my years, but I can't show that, or the others will realise the game I am playing or see me as a threat.

I fiddle with my parcel, looking at the ground. "G-guys, I'm scared. I don't want to die." The fear is very genuine, I must admit. I'm slowly getting more and more scared. I don't know why I'm not as afraid as Al or the other little kids, but I'm scared nonetheless.

Liam snorts. "Well, you are obviously gonna die soon, so you had better —"

He is ordered to shut up while Anne comforts me. I nod and sniffle along. Al begins to tear up.

Frankly speaking, I hope Al will be kicked out soon. He's just a waste of resources. Useless, snivelling, dim-witted coward.

WIthout warning, someone's voice booms through the area. It's an announcer. My heartbeat speeds up. It will start soon. It will start.

The announcer, Magnus Sonor, speaks cheerfully and happily. It is as if he's the host of a talk show or some kid competition TV show. I know it's all to make us feel worse.

The volume is too high and his voice is too loud. I glare at the sky, even though I don't know where his voice is coming from. It feels as though it is coming from all around us.

William shakes with anger as Magnus Sonor, mocks us. "I hate them. I hate them. I'll kill them all …" he muttered.

Good luck with that. I'd like to see it happen.

"Well, William, I highly doubt you have the skill set to —"

"Burn in hell, Centipedes!" William screams all of a sudden.

There is a stunned silence. Even Magnus Sonor has shut up. William claps a hand over his mouth, blushing. "S-s-sorry," he mumbles sheepishly.

I roll my eyes internally and sit down to open my parcel.

But all of a sudden, someone repeats William's words at the top of her voice.

It isn't long before more and more people are saying this. It has become a chant. "Burn in hell, Centipedes, burn, burn, burn!" they scream. The Bugs stomp and pump their fists in the air. I look around. We shouldn't be doing this. We shouldn't. We have to be smart and plan! Strategise!

This is of no use. All it will do is boost the moral of a couple of idiots.

The chanting is crazed now. Everyone is saying different things and I can't decipher a single word. Everyone is screaming and shouting and I cover my ears and kneel on the ground. I can't take this utter lack of control.

Without warning, a piercing sound bursts through the air. I shriek and fall to the ground. Many other Bugs are falling too. Soon it is over, but I can't hear a thing. Anne picks me up and her mouth is moving, but I cannot hear her. I simply nod.

Eventually my hearing comes back to me. Magnus Sonor is speaking. "After that minor disruption, I am happy to say that we will _finally_ begin. Oh, the moment we've all been waiting for! Get ready to meet them! Put your hands together to welcome the Centipedes!"

Bugs start to scream and run. Al is yelling. I fall back and knock into Anne's arms.

There is a huge boom where the cage is and it is soon enveloped in dust. Those standing close to it get knocked back. Everyone starts to run away from it, towards the electric fence. I run slowly, but Anne grabs my hand and drags me along.

By the time we reach the electric fence, the dust has cleared. There is a glass cylinder where the cage used to be.

And the Centipedes. Standing there in their full glory.

I feel something odd wash over me. I stare at them, stunned. I cannot move or think clearly.

There they are. In black camo, leering at us. Murderers. Them. I need … I need _something_ I can use against them …

But I cannot think. And this scares me. To think that I, the fast-thinking, intelligent, clever Rickard, could be so shell-shocked that he could not think.

It scares me.

None of them drew my attention except for a curly-haired ginger with crazed movements. He leaps at us, and some Bugs scream. I don't react.

He hits the glass and bounces off. A Russian woman screams at him, kicks and slashes him with her knife, but he does not react in pain. There are some people who are incapable of feeling pain. That could be good and bad. He wouldn't be deterred by pain, but he wouldn't notice or be able to tend to any wounds as well.

His name is Claude. The Russian woman's name is Ivana and her brother's name is Ivan. Why do I bother memorising their names?

Quickly, Anne snaps out of her shock. "Everyone, it will start soon. Take out your weapons and look at your goodies. Quickly!"

"B-but … I don't have a parcel!" Drea cries. She's shaking.

William snaps his fingers. "Al, Rickard. One of you give her your parcels. You don't know how to use weapons."

Before I can react, Anne leaps forward. "No! They need it. Here Drea, take my parcel. I … don't think … I can kill or harm a person anyway."

Drea stares at the parcel in her arms in shock.

I quickly pack all my supplies into the backpack that is provided. I wish I had two parcels, but this is the best I could do. At least I have one.

My goodie is a small box of tablets with a note attached. I try to read it but my hands are shaking and trembling too much. I stuff it in my pocket and bawl.

"Rickard, Rickard … I … don't cry …"

"Well, Bugs, the time has come."

I rip hair from my scalp and scream.

"You get thirty seconds before the Centipedes come after you, so use that time wisely! Holes will appear in the electric fence, but it'll still be active, so be careful."

No. No. No!

"The Bugs have a thirty-second head start. And the Bug. Extermination. Begins. In three …" Magnus Sonor began.

I grasp Anne's arms. No! I'm not ready.

"Two …"

I have to be ready. It wills start. Fear helps. I will help me but I will not let it control me.

"One …"

This is it. I'm ready.

"GO!"


	3. Chapter 2, Desirae POV

**Thanks for the support!**

 **EmeraldQueen88: Thanks! I wanted to write a THG fanfic but I also wanted something different.**

 **Desirae POV**

We waste three seconds.

We turn to Ryan to guidance, and he turns to Diane. Then realisation washed over him and he starts to sprint along the perimeter of the fence, screaming, "Follow me, you fools! Run, run, run!"

I dash after him, scanning the fence for holes that might appear. I point out a few sections where Bugs were crowding at, but Cat shakes her head. "No. Bottleneck."

I understand. It would take too long to get through because of the crowd.

There are screams and I hear Bugs getting electrocuted by the fence. The Centipedes point out various Bugs who caught their eyes. The sight of them makes me want to throw up.

Theo is lagging behind. I scream at him to hurry up. It suddenly occurs to me that for the Countdown, all that matters is being fast, athletic and strong. It doesn't matter how smart or intelligent we are, we simply need to be quick. And lucky, I guess. That isn't fair.

"There!" Diane shrieks pointing at a small hole in the electric fence that no one has spotted.

We dash towards to hurriedly. "We can make it!" Myrtle cries.

" … nineteen, eighteen, seventeen … " Magnus Sonor sounds breathless with excitement.

"Ah!" A large, fat Bug stumbled into Cat and her small frame was crushed beneath the boy.

"Cat!" I scream, and pull her up. But I pull her up too sharply and fall over.

Sharp needles seem to spike through my foot and I let out a sharp cry of pain. I sprained my foot! How could I, at a time like this?

I start to tear up in despair, but Cat hauls me to my feet. I attempt to run with her, taking smaller steps with my injured foot.

Ryan, Jon and Diane duck under the fence with little difficulty. Myrtle wriggles under on her belly. We're heading towards the cherry grove.

"Wait, guys! Wait!" Cat cries.

The others don't spare us a second glance. Myrtle steps towards us, but backpedals quickly. She won't risk her life to help us. I suppose I wouldn't either.

Magnus Sonor continues to count down. Ten, nine, eight … Cat runs ahead; I suppose she won't risk her life to help me any longer.

I look back at the Centipedes. The are bringing out various weapons and pointing at the various Bugs they are going after first.

There's one boy maybe my age close to me. He drags himself across the ground with gritted teeth. His legs aren't moving. Is he paralysed?

I'm almost there!

Then I notice Claude staring at me. He presses himself up against the glass and smirks. He dips a finger into his wound and brings out the bloody appendage. "Do you like red, little girl?" he asks, shouting at me.

I whimper and push forward.

Magnus Sonor kept counting down. "Two …"

"One … Zero."

The boy and I let out screams. My head swims and I fall to the ground. My head hurts.

The glass sinks into the ground and the Centipedes pour out.

I'm dead. I'm dead, dead.

Claude heads towards the boy and me. Without warning, he screeched to a halt. He took out a gun and took aim.

The boy and I scream again.

I'm not thinking properly.

I grab the boy by the back of his shirt and cower behind him.

There's a gunshot ringing and the boy coughs blood. Claude looks slightly impressed.

I stumble to my feet, hunched over and panting, and make the mistake of looking down. My stomach churns and my vision swims. I crumple to my knees.

The boy's hand is over his stomach and he coughs blood. He whimpers silently.

I used him as a meat shield. I'm a monster.

No, no, I tell myself, it isn't my fault. It was a survival instinct, a natural reflex. I did what I had to do. I wasn't thinking, and I did it. It saved my life.

I want to throw up.

Claude takes out another gun. I scream and slide backward, but I won't be quick enough. In a literal flash, the boy's pinky has been taken out. The stump has been cauterised.

It's a laser, I realise.

The boy screams again. Claude is torturing him. He doesn't want to make his death instant. I want to scream to kill us quickly, but I can't speak.

The madman runs towards us. I start screaming without knowing it, screaming till my throat is raw. My legs are shaking so much that I can't stand.

I pull my knife from my boot. I can kill myself. A quick stab, and I'd been dead. Even if I screw it up and die slowly and painfully, it's still better than being tortured.

My palms are clammy and my grip on the knife slips. It's not all that sharp. I will not die quickly.

I press it against my throat. How should I do this? Slit my own throat?

I start to cry and hyperventilate. I can't do this!

Claude reaches us. I try to scream, but I choke. "You look yummy!" Claude croons. Does he mean this in the literal sense?

"Are … are you gonna … eat us?" the boy whispers in a hoarse voice. I can barely hear him.

Claude laughs. "Of course!"

"No!" I shriek. "Don't! Please just kill us quickly!"

He doesn't seem to hear me. "Yay! Claude the cannibal's cuisine!"

And instead of killing the boy, he leans forward and sinks his sharpened teeth into the boy's arm, ripping off a piece of flesh.

The boy screams in pure horror and pain. I lean over and empty my guts on the ground. I want to grab my knife and stab Claude in the chest. I want to grab the boy's arm and run out of here. But mostly I just want to get away and live.

I hobble away quickly as the boy screams in agony. Claude is going to shoot me. I know it. He will. The moment he sees me escaping, he will whip out that horrid laser gun of his and shoot me.

But he doesn't. I just hear a cheerful, "Bye! See you!"

I turn around, wincing as I apply pressure on my foot. I remember how he called Ivana rude. "B-Bye?" He's mad. He's insane.

The boy tries to push Claude off and fails.

This is messed up.

I turn and try to duck under the electric fence. _Schlock!_ No, that is not Claude hacking bits of flesh off for later meals. It is … someone cutting meat.

A metallic smell fills the air. No, that is not the smell of blood. It is the smell of coins, metal coins …

A horrible taste fills my mouth. No, that is not the taste of bile. It is the aftertaste of a badly-cooked meal.

A drop of something warm and wet hits my neck. I let out a strangled cry. No, it is not of drop of blood. It was a raindrop announcing the start of a thunderstorm.

I look back and red flashes before my eyes. No, that is not blood. That is … that is …

I stumble a little further and fall to the ground. I can't go on. I feel as if lead has filled my limbs and my legs shake so much that it makes me want to collapse to the ground.

Why am I so weak? I haven't exhausted myself. My only injury is a sprained foot — it's nothing.

It must be because I am weak.

I struggle to my feet. The others must be long gone. It is a good thing that Claude wasn't accompanied by any other Centipedes — they would have caught me.

 _Claude._ The mere thought of him makes me want to fall down and cry again. I have to get away from him.

That boy. He will die, and it's because of me. I used him as a meat shield. I left him to Claude. But, I try to tell myself, he would have died anyway. Claude would have gotten him anyway.

Not necessarily true, I find myself thinking. He could have gotten away like you; you could have fought Claude with him and escaped together.

But then I would probably have died. I wonder, is it better to live as a murderer or die a good person.

I don't know anymore. Before this, I was sure that survival was the most important. But now … I'm not even sure if I regret my decision or not.

Best to stop thinking about this. Get away from them and forget it all.

I am soon surrounded by the cherry trees and I can no longer hear the boy's screams. I don't know how much further I have to walk to get out of here. In fact, it might not be a good idea to leave this place at all. What if this place is safer than the rest of the Grounds?

I try to weigh my options, but I can't think.

The best thing to do would be to look for the others, but I have no idea where they are.

It is then I notice one cherry tree that is oddly bare. The other cherry trees have twice as many cherries as this one.

Human activity. Someone picked those cherries. Even in my emotional state, I can tell.

I look down. The ground is soft. Could there be footprints? So far, I have scuffed out most of the footprints I made, but those Bugs — probably my team — who passed by this area may not have.

I don't see any footprints. They must have scuffed them out.

There's no way of knowing where they went. I look back in the direction I came from. If I assume they went in a straight line from the hole I went through, then I should just keep heading in the same direction.

I walk in that direction as quickly as I can with my injured foot. I hope this isn't a trap set up by an intelligent Centipede.

Soon, I hear voices.

My heart leaps.

I think I hear Cat, shouting angrily.

I head in that direction. I want to call out, but I don't dare draw myself any attention. Soon I see my team. Cat is there, shouting at Ryan, who deals a nasty blow to the side of her head. Diane whispers in Ryan's ear as he glares down at her.

Right now, I don't care what problems they have. I run towards them, shouting.

My team turns to look at me, stunned. Cat exclaims, "I knew you weren't dead!" Myrtle and Theo cheer. Diane gives me a pleasant smile, which could be fake for all I know.

"Are you alright? Were you attacked?" Cat demands to know.

"No. I mean, yeah, I'm … fine. I was attacked by the Centipede with ginger hair — the crazy one," I reply.

"I knew you'd be useless," Ryan growls. "You slowed us down. We could have been caught by a Centipede!"

I stare at him. Is that what you say to a Bug who was just attacked by a mad Centipede?

"Desirae, it's okay," Myrtle says gently. I give a grateful look. "Tell us what happened."

So I tell them everything that transpired, leaving out the part where I hid behind the boy, using him as a meat shield. I don't want them to think I am a cowardly monster.

" … so I went under the electric fence to look for —"

"Yes yes," Ryan interrupts. "But you killed that Centipede, didn't you? That's why he isn't after you, am I right?"

"No. I … I didn't kill him. I just left."

"What!" Ryan leaps up and pushes me to the ground. I squeak in fear. "Don't you get it?" he bellows. "We have to kill them! Not run away!"

"B-but … I couldn't have! He's a freaking _Centipede_! I can't just up and kill a Centipede! They're too strong! He'd have killed me!"

Ryan glares at me. "You have reached a new level of low. So you're saying you didn't even _try_ to fight him?"

I glower at him. "You … you … try being scared for once! I-it —"

"You were _scared,_ Rae?" He scoffs.

"That is not my name —"

"Whatever." He flicks his hand in my direction. "You had better prove to us that you are some use soon, Rae. Or else you're outta here."

I want to scream. Why doesn't he understand that I was scared and panicking? Why can't he get that I'm incapable of even standing up to a Centipede?

"Ryan! You are not kicking Desirae out of our team if she doesn't prove herself!" Cat yells, pulling me to my feet.

"R-Ryan … maybe it's 'cos not everyone is as brave as you and we're all cowardly and stuff," Theo stutters. He trembles so much that Ryan does not pick up his sarcasm.

Diane smiles at all of us charmingly and rubs Ryan's shoulder. "Theo's right. You're brave, Ryan. You're a leader. You can't expect everyone to be like you."

Ryan sighs. "I s'pose you're right."

I breathe a sigh of relief. Thank god for Diane.

Soon we are on moving once again. Ryan doesn't want to stay in the same place, which, I suppose is a good idea. Cat points out that would mean we'd have a higher chance of running into a Centipede, but Ryan glares at her and she shuts up.

I thought about the poor boy. But no, I can't. It's a terrible thing that happened. In fact, I should try to forget it.

So I try to hide my mind and its thoughts. Everything is repetitive now. Walk. Blink. Breathe.

I am so happy to be able to breathe.

My mind is blank now and I feel nothing save a dull ache in my chest and a pressure on the sides of my head, as if I am wearing a tight, uncomfortable plastic headband. It must be a tension headache.

I see Jon head towards me. "So … you say Claude _ate_ the boy."

I shift uncomfortably. "Yeah. And I … I don't want to talk about it."

"It is very important, Desirae. We need to know more about the Centipedes so we can battle them. Please. You're the only one who has faced a Centipede. You would know them best."

"Claude is not your average Centipede," I warn, trying to end the conversation. "And I don't know anything."

"Yes. I know this. But tell me everything you know."

"He doesn't react to pain, I'm sure you've noticed. I don't know if he's constantly on painkillers or something. Maybe he was just born like that."

"I doubt it," Myrtle interjects, coming to walk next to me. "He can't be born like that. It's called congenital insensitivity to pain. They have a treatment for that now. It's a dangerous sort of thing — they could get injured and not even know it. He wouldn't have let it go untreated. He might just be on drugs."

Jon's eyes light up. "Did you just say it's a dangerous thing? Painkillers or not, we can use this to our advantage."

"The other Centipedes would notice if he were injured and tell him," I argue.

"No. He chased you alone. That means he probably travels alone too." Jon grins. "This is great! What else?"

"Um. He eats people," I say, even though I know this. "Wait a minute! We could —"

"Poison him. We could poison him," Cat murmurs in wonder as she joins our conversation. "Desirae! One of your goodies is a poison!"

I get a tingly little feeling in my stomach. We're smart. We can do this.

"Is it lethal?" Jon asks.

"In very large doses, yes," I tell him, remembering what Cat told me.

"It's brilliant," Cat exclaims, clapping like an excitable child. "We could coat a corpse's skin with the poison and lure him —"

"Wait," Myrtle interjects. "Where would we get a corpse?"

Jona and I shrug. I think of corpses and my mood dampens immediately.

"We … could find one, I guess," Cat says. "Or wait for one of us to … you know. Kick the bucket."

"Oh."

We shut up then and keep walking.

Later one I tell Cat how I realised they were here — I had noticed the cherry tree with no cherries. Cat brings it up and Diane tells us not to pick a whole cherry tree bare the next time.

Theo starts worrying. "Uh oh. Uh oh. That means the Centipedes will know where we are! What will we do?"

"The Centipedes will know where you are if you keep yelling loudly like that," Ryan snaps. "Now shut up. You're on my list of people to kick out when the time is right."

During mid-afternoon Ryan tells us to sit and rest. "I don't know why we haven't gotten out of here yet — this place isn't that big, but no matter. Let's eat."

I'm not feeling particularly hungry, so I decide to eat a few cherries. "Guys, these cherries are safe to eat, right?"

Myrtle inspects one of them. She tastes one, then nods. "They're safe. I'd bet my life on it."

I smile and put a cherry in my mouth. After polishing off the pit, I stretch my tired legs and put the pit in my pocket. I don't want to leave it on the ground and let anyone know there are Bugs here.

I am about to grab another cherry when I see the dark red stains on my fingertips. For a brief moment, I think it is blood, but I steel myself. It's the stains from the cherry, I tell myself.

The colour looks awfully like blood. I inspect it.

Darken the colour, make it thicker, and it could pass for blood.

In my mind I see the corpse of the boy, blood trickling from his stomach and the flesh on his arm gnawed to the bone. Maggots and flies surround him.

Don't think, don't think of …

 _Cherry blood._

The Bug who had been killed to save my life; his blood is on my hands.

I clench my fists.

Blood, blood, cherry blood.

 _Cherry blood._


	4. Chapter 2, Rickard POV

**Emmeline Phoenix: Yes, I do agree that my story is quite unexpected, but I feel as though it is too similar to THG to be its own proper story, but too unlike THG to be a fan fiction! Sigh. Glad you like my story anyway!**

 **By the way, once I finish posting this load of chapters, I'll probably post twice a week. I write fast.**

 **Rickard POV**

The screams deafen me.

Before I can react, Anne has grabbed my wrist and pulls me along. Al screams and runs, knocking us aside.

"Look for a hole in the fence!" Liam yells.

My heart beats so fast, I can't think, only try to control my breathing.

I shoulder my bag and run along with them. I pump my legs as fast as I can, but I feel as though I am moving in slow motion. Everyone is going fast but I'm moving too slowly. "Wait up!" I try to scream, but it's too loud and even I can't hear myself properly.

Anne trips over Al and they both fall to the ground. Anne screams in pain. "My foot!"

I am tempted to leave them behind, but Anne is my only hope of survival. Without her influence, Liam and William would leave me for the Centipedes. I will my legs to stop, but I can't. They just keep going.

Magnus Sonor counts down. He breathes heavily, excited. I hate him. I wish he'd just die.

"Fifteen …"

Fifteen seconds left. Fifteen seconds and the torture will begin.

I'm not dying. Not today. Not till I want to.

I run faster.

We haven't even found a hole yet! Al rushes to the holes where everyone crowds around, but Anne pulls him back. "No! There are too many Bugs there!"

Then I see one.

"Here!" I shriek. "Come here!"

It leads out of the mansion grounds and into the street. I can see a huge hospital and a school somewhere along the street. There will be many hiding places there.

"Nine!" Magnus Sonor booms.

"No!" Al screams, his gangly legs flying as he falls to the ground. "Ahhh! Help! Please!" He gets up again and crashes into me.

I tumble to the ground, with a short shrill scream that comes out before I know it. "You idiot!" I yell, and smack his face lightly with my fist.

Al lies on the ground, screaming.

"Shut it!" I scream. "You'll attract the Centipedes' attention!"

Al stumbles to his feet before falling once again. "I'm gonna die!"

Anne turns back. "Don't give up!" Amazingly, she's kind and selfless enough to turn around and grasp our hands to pull us along …

I would never have turn back for someone else. Not in a million years.

"Leave them, Anne!" William screams. "They'll die anyway!"

"Go to hell!" Anne screams at him, quite unlike her.

"Two."

"No …" I whimper.

"One …"

There's a moment that lasts for only a split second. I feel weightless, and I can't breathe. My hearing is muffled and my heart thuds. Once. Twice. Thrice.

"Zero."

The entire Centipede Dome explodes into whoops, hollers and screams. "Yeah!" A Centipede screams in excitement.

"N-n-no!" Al sobs.

In just a few seconds, a Centipede appears behind us. He gets through the hole quickly and deftly despite his bulky frame. It's Ivan.

No! We're being pursued!

Al starts to scream again. Drea trips and falls. William lets out an uncharacteristic whimper.

Then a shot rings out and my heart leaps.

On impulse, I try to duck and fall to the ground. I realise that my duck looked more like an unintentional tumble. Then I get an idea.

Anne leans over me. "No!" she cries, smacking me in the face lightly. "Rickard, no! Don't be dead!"

I don't respond, pretending to have been shot.

Anne lets out a sob, but manages to stumble to her feet and run away.

I crack one eye open as Ivan speeds past me. Yes! The pretence worked! I hope the Centipede doesn't kill the rest of my team — I need them to survive.

Suddenly Drea shouts, "No!" I try to watch the scene without getting caught.

Drea's shoe and part of her shin is stuck to the ground by a fluffy vomit green substance. She tries to pull out of it, but the substance holds her fast. She screams and reaches to pull her leg out, but wisely decides it is a bad idea to plunge her hands in the stuff.

The Centipede is holding what seems to be a rifle. He fires at William's back. A vial of dark substance broke across his back. The moment the glass shatters, the substance explodes out like a cloud, increasing in size and lightening in colour till it is the same vomit green colour. Liam staggers and fell, the substance on his back gluing his back to the ground.

Anne runs over to him, but the Centipede pins her arm to a streetlight with the cloud substance.

No. They're dead. How are they going to escape?

Al's legs are stuck to the ground. He screams, plunging his arms in the substance to pull it off. Soon his hands are stuck in it too. What an idiot!

Liam lies on the ground, the cloud substance over his face. He thrashes and kicks. I realise he can't breathe.

I don't dare move. But I have to save them — if I don't I'll die eventually unless I find another team well-suited to my needs. What are the chances of that?

My heart pounds so fast that I can feel it without putting my hand to my chest. I can barely breathe.

I carefully unzip my bag and draw out my knife. Only Drea notices.

Anne screams in anger and fear. "You … you killed him! He was the youngest of us all! You killed a little nine year old!"

Ivan shrugs. "I do that approximately 11.79 times a year. Doesn't weigh too heavily on my conscience."

"Let us go! We'll do anything!" Anne begs. "My friend … our friend is suffocating. Just let him go first!"

I carefully rise to my feet. I almost drop the knife. I have to stab him. Where? In the neck? The back? Should I reach over and slash his throat.

I should target the neck but I realise I won't be able to reach it without jumping. He's too tall.

"I'm going to get my sister. Wait here. Oh wait, that's all you can do." Ivan laughs at his own joke and begins to turn around.

I stumble back, about to scream. "Wait!"

"What?"

"You'll pay for this! I'll … I'll … you will …" She realises Ivan is too tall for me to stab in the neck. "Look at me in the eye! You'll see that I —"

Anne sees me and tries to hide her shock. William doesn't. "Drea! Shut up! You'll anger him and —"

"You'll pay!" Drea cuts in. "Look at —"

"Oh really?" Ivan leans forward so that he is eye-to-eye with her. I'm sure I can reach his neck now. "No, let me tell you one thing."

Drea flashes me a look.

I position the knife over Ivan's neck. My hand is shaking so badly that I'm not sure I have the strength to drive the blade in his neck. No matter. I lift the knife.

Okay, here it goes.

Suddenly, Al screams, "Oh my god! It's Rickard! Save us, Rickard!"

My jaw drops. "Kill him!" Drea screams.

Ivan spins around, sending his boot in my chest.

I fly back, my scream lodged in my throat as the wind is knocked out of me. The knife slips out of my hand.

Drea is screaming and cursing Al.

My head smacks the ground and I gasp in pain. I try to draw a breath and push myself up with my hands. Just as I am sitting up, Ivan presses a blade against my throat and pushes down slowly, guiding me down till my head touches the ground again.

"It was a good idea to play dead," Ivan admits, "but your friend is too stupid. Poor you. Almost got me."

I can't turn my head. I can't even talk, lest I cut my throat against the blade. I have to breathe carefully.

I'm going to die now. All he needs to do is flick his wrist and I'll be dead.

What can I do? I can't hear anything above the sound of my own heart thumping fast.

"Please! He's only a child!" Anne screams desperately.

"That hasn't stopped me from killing," Ivan snaps.

"You're a monster! You … you …"

"I don't think you —" Ivan stops all of a sudden, as if he had an off button and someone had hit it at that very moment. He goes slack. Quickly, I push his arm away and take his knife, scrambling away from him.

Ivan opens his mouth wide, his eyes full of shock and pain. And he screams.

He falls to the ground, writhing. He spasms and for a moment, he seems to glow blue.

Drea holds her open bag, an electric blue handgun in her hand. It has to be her goodie. She pulls the trigger for the second time. All I register is a bang, a blue streak slamming into Ivan's face. He rolls onto his stomach, screeching and sobbing.

I would have laughed if I weren't still in danger

I grab the blade and hold it to Ivan's throat. "Okay, I'm gonna kill him," I mutter.

"Free us first," William grumbles.

"No Rickard! Don't!" Anne cries. "You … um, we shouldn't kill a person."

I stare at her. What is _wrong_ with her?

"He's a Centipede! Kill him!" Al screams.

It is then I notice Al's tears dripping off his face and landing in the cloud substance. Wherever his tears land, the cloud substance sizzles and seems to evaporate, leaving a smelly green gas in the air.

"I know how to free you guys!" I cry. I unzip my backpack and fumble for the my water bottle. Then, I drip it on the cloud substance that is in direct contact with Anne's body.

The substances steams and disappears. Anne quickly removes her arm and stares at it. Then she bursts into action.

Taking my water bottle, she quickly pours water over Liam's face. The cloud substance on his head vanishes and I can see that his face is blue.

Drea and William free themselves and Al. "Good job," Drea notes.

"We're still in danger! Let's go!" Al reminds us.

"First things first." William takes out his knife and dashes over to Ivan. He mutters a prayer and lifts the knife to puncture the Centipede's throat.

"No!"

"We all turn. Ivana is getting through the hole in the electric fence. She fires with a gun, and a bolt of red light slams into William's knife, shattering the blade.

"Leave him alone!" Ivana shrieks.

"Run!" Drea shrieks, and dashes away.

I grab my knife, which lies next to Liam, who is still trying to take in oxygen. Blood pours from a wound on Liam's leg. My knife is tipped with blood. I realise the knife must have hit Liam when it flew from my hand.

But not matter. I must finish the job.

Just as I am about to stab Ivan, Anne grabs my wrist. "Run," she gasps and drags me away.

I thrash in her iron grip. "No! We gotta kill him! Let me go!"

But she won't let go.

William is hauling Liam along. Al and Drea run ahead. "Just let me grab Ivan's —"

"No!" Anne cries. "You'll die!"

"You hurt my brother!" Ivana screams. "Little bastards! You'll pay! I'll make sure you die slowly!"

She lifts another gun and fires. I am paralysed as the whole world goes black.

When I wake up, I can feel my head elevated by something soft. I actually feel comfortable. How strange. "What —"

"Shh," Anne murmurs. "Everyone's sleeping."

"What happened?" I murmure groggily. My head pounds and my shoulder stings, but the pain is bearable.

"You collapsed when Ivana fired her gun. It was a tranquiliser. And you got hit. But we're all safe now. We ran to the biggest building we could find. We're in the hospital. I guess she didn't want kill us instantly because she wanted to torture us. She was angry with us for hurting Ivan. She want to make our deaths slow."

"Monsters …" But I was just saying that. If anyone hurt someone I cared for (even though I didn't have any loved ones at the moment), I'd make their deaths as slow and painful as possible. I understood Ivana.

"Yes. Ricky. You're in one of the hospital beds. We'll all stay in the same room. It's safer."

I sensed something wrong about everyone staying in one room with only one exit, but my head pounded too much for me to think. "How long have I been out?"

"Seven hours. We're taking a nap. Liam and William went off to look for a sustainable food source. There's a place filled with cherry trees, so they brought back loads. Also, they managed to loot a few corpses."

"Ew." Frankly, I don't mind looting corpses, but disgust seems like a suitable reaction for a nine year old.

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, we shan't stay in the the cherry tree place because the boys said it seemed too exposed. Do want a cherry?"

"Gimme."

Anne dumps a handful of cherries on my blankets. I quickly move them away onto my clothes, sitting upright. Getting the bed stained is not a good idea. It wouldn't be a good idea to leave traces of my presence.

I polish off a cherry quickly. I took another. And another. I lost track of how many cherries ate

When I put the cherry pits into my bag, I realise the colour of the cherries was akin to that of blood.

Cherry blood. Hah. Cherry blood.


	5. Chapter 3, Desirae POV

**is glitching a lot now. Anyway, enjoy! By the way, tell me who you like to read about more, Desirae or Rickard.**

 **Emmeline Phoenix12: You'll have to wait and see! The next chapter will give you a few clues.**

 **Desirae POV**

By nine o'clock, things start to look murky and foggy, even though I am sure there is no fog around. It doesn't help that it's already dark.

Theo clutches his eyes and gropes around. "I'm not seeing things too good!" He blunders into a tree and falls backward.

Myrtle pinches the bridge of her nose. "Neither am I. Things are going blurry."

I nod. "Me too. But it isn't that bad."

"What are you talking about?" Theo wails. "It's awful!"

Ryan frowns. "Everyone. Stop walking. Can anyone see well?"

"It isn't that bad," I start, but everyone cuts in, shouting about how bad it is.

My stomach twists in worry. How will we defend ourselves in this state? "But … why? What happened? Why is Theo's vision so bad, while mine is still relatively okay?"

"Perhaps it's poison," Phil exclaims.

I'm about to agree when Ryan shouts at him."Don't be silly!" Ryan shouts. "No one has poisoned us."

"No! The cherries!" Diane exclaims. "The cherries. They did this. Desirae, you only ate one cherry. Theo ate the most, I think. Your vision is the best while his is the worst. The cherries are to make us easier targets for the Centipedes."

Theo lets out a cry of horror. I stay silent. We were so stupid! I should have known there weren't going to give us a substantial food source so easily!

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Myrtle frets. "Will it go away? Will we get better? We're so vulnerable like this!"

Ryan turns on Myrtle angrily. "You said the cherries were all right! You lied to us!"

"I didn't! I wouldn't have eaten any if I had! Why would I lie? It isn't as if I'm in cahoots with the Centipedes!" Myrtle cries, her voice rising in slight panic.

"Stop it, Ryan. It isn't her fault," I say sharply.

"You're just saying that because you're barely affected," Phil snaps.

"You're going to find a way to heal our blindness. If we can't see normally in three days, or someone is hurt or killed because of the blindness, we will leave you to the Centipedes," Ryan growls. Myrtle backpedals and her back hits a cherry tree.

"Leave her alone!" I say, my voice louder this time. Ryan doesn't scare me. He's _nothing_ compared to Claude.

Cat turns to look at Diane expectantly. She clears her throat. "Ryan, it really depends. We'll see what the situation is like in three days. You must calm down, or you'll hurt yourself, and I'd _never_ allow that! Okay?"

Ryan looks between Myrtle and Diane. He frowns as if considering the fact that Diane might be using and manipulating him. But he relents.

"Fine. But she will pay. We're going to rest and sleep here. We can each eat a little food. Not too much. Drink some water, but only a little. We should find water, if there is any."

I snap my fingers. "Hey! Assuming the cherries released some toxins in us, maybe we can drink water to flush out the toxins in us!"

"You can try that," Ryan says. "But we don't have enough water. If you drink all your water and have none left, well, you have only yourself to blame."

"There must be water somewhere," Theo says timidly. "How else would the plants here survive? Maybe it'll rain."

"Yeah. Let's hope any water we find doesn't have any toxins in them," Cat says.

We sit down and we each swallow a food pill. But my stomach is still feeling empty. I sigh. Food pills are meant to be eaten three times a day, but I don't think I have enough food pills to tide me over a week if I take three per day. Assuming I survive that long, that is.

Ryan points at me. "You, have a one-hour nap. Since you're the one with the best eyesight, you're standing guard while we catch up on sleep. Stand guard for four hours while we catch up on sleep. Then _Myrtle,_ " Ryan spits out Myrtles name as if it were venom, "is standing guard for five hours. This is punishment for failing to realise that the cherries were poisonous. Whatever-your-name-is, this is also punishment for slowing us down."

I look pleadingly at Diane, but she doesn't try to stop Ryan. I suppose she doesn't want to do it because she doesn't want to have to stand guard. It is then I realise how reliant I am on Diane's influence over Ryan.

"Five hours is a lot," Myrtle protests weakly. "I can't … I can't possible get through the day tomorrow with only four hours of sleep!"

"She's right," I say.

"It's punishment."

I open my mouth to yell, but I decide not to. I'm already in his bad books. I try to reason with him instead. "If I'm tired tomorrow, I'll slow you down even more. What if these few hours of sleep are split up evenly? That'll make more sense."

Ryan stubbornly shakes his head.

"Oh, forget it!" Cat exclaims. "I'll share it with you. We each get three hours of standing guard."

"No," Ryan snaps. " _They_ made a mistake. _They_ pay for it."

I want to smack that sadistic smile off his face.

"Now, you and Myrtle sleep already."

I spin around, seething in anger. "You're such a … such a …" I can't think of a good insult.

"What? What am I?" Ryan teases.

"An arrogant, tyrannical blowhard!" I blurt out.

There's a stunned silence.

Diane tentatively puts a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "R-Ryan, dear? Are you okay?"

"Stay out of this, Diane. I'll deal with her."

I step back, my heart in my throat. Then I remember Claude, and I am not really scared anymore. "I'm not afraid of you. You're not a Centipede. You're just another Bug. You can't scare me!"

Suddenly Ryan's furious expression melts off his face. "Oh really. Well, that's fine. Go along then!"

I frown. "What? What are you going to do?" Is he going to beat me up? Throttle me?

"Why would you think so?"

I glare at him. Now I'm a little worried.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Cat whispers.

Without saying a word, I storm off. I trudge away till the voices of my teammates are only distant murmurs.

I unroll my sleeping bag and a calculator-like device falls out. Behind it, embossed in gold, are the words _HUCR (Heads-Up-on-Casualties-Report)_.

I know what it is. I've been taught how to use it. I punch in a random number, 52, and a single word pops up on the screen.

 _DECEASED. Stabbed to death._

I throw the HUCR down. Bug Fifty-Two is dead, killed by a Centipede. Whoever Bug Fifty-Two is … Or was.

I press the equality sign on the HUCR and on the screen, it shows:

 _B: 82 C: 10_

Eighty-two Bugs are still alive. Sadly, all the Centipedes are still around.

I shudder. How could I possibly be of the same species as the Centipedes? They're unhinged, mad, bloodthirsty, inhumane savages. They're messed up. They're just wrong. It's sad.

I sigh. Today has been hard—too hard. I'm not sure I can get through this without going absolutely stark raving mad.

I lie down in the sleeping bag and close my eyes. My body is aching all over because I've been tense and anxious all day.

But I doubt I can fall asleep. Not here. Not now. Where I can be killed the second I drop my guard.

When I wake up, all is silent. I check my watch and it is a quarter past ten. Why hasn't anyone woken me up fifteen minutes ago?

A chilly feeling creeps up on me. Oh no. Oh no. I open my mouth to call out, but my voice is lodged in my throat.

It is then I realise what has happened.

They've been killed. Or taken. By the Centipede's. And somehow, they didn't notice me.

I stumble back and slip on someone else's sleeping bag. I reach out to push myself back onto my feet and touch something slick on the waterproof material.

I snatch my hand away, heart pounding furiously. I look at my hand and see a dark red substance on it.

Blood. It's cherry blood.

I clap my clean hand over my mouth and have to resist the urge to scream.

But my friends. Cat and Myrtle. Poor, pathetic little Theo. They were slaughtered so bloodily.

Then I realise, the Centipede who killed my friends knows I'm here. Why would he kill the person next to me but not me? He's playing a game. He wants to scare me.

What if it's Claude?

No, it can't be.

Or could it? He's certainly cruel—and mad—enough to do it.

I want to grab my torch and use it to find a way out of here, but that would show the Centipede exactly where I am. So instead, I take out my knife and make a run for it.

And promptly crash into someone.

We both fall to the ground and I thrash with the person. I can barely see them. Just as I'm about to stab, I realise the person is my size.

"Desirae?"

I widen my eyes in shock. "Cat!"

"We have to run. Now."

I shoulder on my backpack and leave my sleeping bag behind. My heart leaps more furiously than before. "Where's everyone? What happened?"

"A … a Centipede appeared," Cat pants. "I don't know where the others are. But Ryan broke the Centipede's night goggles, so he can't see us either. Just run. Run."

"And the Centipede said that the reason why we haven't got out of here yet is because there's something messing with our minds here. The air, or something. It made us walk in circles."

I stare at her in shock. "No way."

"It's true. And I have no idea how we're gonna get out."

"The constellations," I tell her. "We can see the constellations here."

"W-what?"

I halt. The sun rises from the east. The Bug Extermination started during the morning, and I ran in the opposite direction, which is the west. So I should continue to head west towards the streets. I look at the North star. I'm running in the North direction, so I should turn left.

"That way." I point at the west and crash through the trees.

"What? Why?"

"I'll tell you later," I pant. We're loud—too loud. I wonder if we should just stop and walk quietly, but we've made enough noise for the Centipede to ascertain where we are.

"Cat! Desirae!"

I spin around. It's Jon.

"Are you okay?" Cat pants. "Where's everyone else?"

"I-I twisted my ankle. I was running with Diane and Ryan but that made me too slow. I don't know where they are. But … I'm sure they didn't do it on purpose."

"No time to look for them," I say. "We gotta get out of here."

"But … but Diane! And Ryan. We can't—"

Cat shakes her head. "We won't be able to find them."

Jon sighs. "Anyway, Phil and Myrtle said to use the constellations to move to the rest. But I can't read the constellations—"

"I can," I interrupt. "Just head this way."

In less than five minutes we are nearing a huge wall.

"Get over it! Get over it!" Jon gasps. We help to boost Cat over, then we both get over, Jon being last.

Just as Jon is getting over the wall, he turns and looks back at the cherry trees. Under the light of the streetlamps, I can see his face pale.

"Oh my god!" He scrambles over the wall and we all fall off in a heap. "The Centipede! The Centipede!"

I let out a small scream and stumble to my feet. "Run run run!"

We dash down the street. A grappling hook hits the wall and the Centipede uses it to propel himself onto the wall. As dim as it is, I can see him take out a gun.

"Jesus Christ!" Jon shoves us both onto the porch of a large house, just in time. A laser hits the spot we were on. Bits of stone shower us. I quickly push the door open. Thank goodness it is unlocked.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry." We run up the stairs quickly, stomping and causing the whole staircase to shake as we do so.

"We have to hide," Cat says.

"He'll find us!" I argue. "There's no way we can hide—"

I can hear the front door burst open. Jon says something but I can't hear a thing over the sound of blood rushing in my ears and my heart pounding too fast to be healthy.

Jon runs into a bedroom and Cat drags me after him. It's well-furnished—with a Persian rug, an ornamentally carved wooden table, a wooden wardrobe with carved clawed feet, a huge four-poster bed, a dresser with a small stool, a bookshelf and a desk. But the room is badly damaged—one of the metal bedposts has been broken off, the bowl of fruit on the table is broken, the rug has been ripped into bandage-sized lengths and stained with blood. This damage is no doubt dealt by past Bug Exterminations.

The Centipede bangs up the stairs.

"We can't hide here!" Jon gasps. "There's nowhere to hide!"

He runs out of the room. Almost immediately, I hear the sound of metal slicing flesh, and Jon's scream of pain.

The Centipede marches into the room, dragging Jon by the hair behind him. Jon clutches his bloodied shoulder, whimpering. Cherry blood leaks from between his fingers, staining his clothes and dripping on the ground.

The Centipede drops Jon on the ground. "Alright. Who's up for some _fun_?"

He gives Cat and I a wolfish grin and a wink.

Immediately she springs into action. She grabs her tranquiliser and shoots a dart at the Centipede. Right before she fires, he ducks down, and the dart goes over his head.

I'm paralysed.

He lunges forward, and I scream like a pathetic coward.

The Centipede slams into Cat, and she goes down, screaming. "Desirae!" He brings out a knife and holds it to her throat. "You, girl with the black hair."

"W-what?" I stutter.

"I want you to do something for me. If you don't I'll kill your friend."

"I … I …" What will he ask me to do? Stab myself for his own sadistic pleasure?

"Take off your shirt."

"W-what?"

"You … you can't do that to her!" Jon shouts. "You're supposed to kill us, not … not …"

The Centipede snarls at him. "You want me to kill you? If you don't, then shut up."

I have to do it. I have to. Or Cat will die.

Cat glances at me. _Distract him,_ she mouths out.

I know what to do. "Fine. Kill her. I don't care. I'm not taking my shirt off for dirty old man like you," I snap.

He seems stunned. "I … I'm giving you one chance, girl. I want you to do this willingly. Take. Off. Your. Shirt."

I knew it. He wants this leverage over me so he can instill more fear in me rather than if he does this forcefully. He wants me to know that I'm doing this willingly to save Cat. He wants to psychologically torture me.

"No."

He gapes at me, giving Cat the perfect opportunity to bring her knee up to hit him between the legs.

The Centipede roars in pain, screaming out some choice words. He pushes himself up and Cat scrambles out from beneath him.

This time I am ready to react. I grab the broken metal bedpost and and slam it against the back of the Centipede's head.

He cries in pain again, dropping his knife. I bring the bedpost over his head again and again. Jon comes forward and lifts the stool in the air before breaking it over the Centipede's head with his good arm. The Centipede's eyes cross. I hit him with the bedpost in the face, breaking his nose.

Cat comes over and without hesitation, stabs the Centipede in the neck with the his knife.

It is a messy death.

She pulls the knife out and the Centipede chokes on his own thick cherry blood. He collapses to the ground on his back, coughing out blood.

He's dying. He's dying.

A Centipede is dying.

He coughs more and more, gagging. Blood pools on the ground around his neck.

Then he dies. He dies.

Cat runs forward to check his pulse. "He's dead," she mutters in shock. "He … he's dead."

I take out my HUCR and check. "There are … there are nine Centipedes left. Nine."

"Oh my god," Jon murmurs. He takes a step toward us before promptly collapsing.

I rush forward. "My wound," he gasps in pain. "He … put an axe … in my shoulder."

"Calm down, calm down," Cat says. She rips the bed sheet into strips to wrap his wound. "I'm gonna put you to sleep for a bit," she mutters. "This may hurt."

"What? No, I can handle—"

She jabs his shoulder with one of her darts and he closes his eyes.

It is then the rest of the team bursts in.

"What's going on?" Phil gasps. "We heard your screams. Where is the Centipede—" Then he sees the corpse on the ground.

"Is that—"

"The Centipede is dead," Myrtle murmurs. "Isn't he."

"Yeah," I say. "He … he's dead."

One down, nine left to go.


	6. Chapter 3, Rickard POV

**Enjoy!**

 **Rickard POV**

"The cherries are most certainly the devious culprits," Drea declares.

William turns to look at her, his milky cataracts dilated. "What?"

"The cherries clearly have a substance which causes the caecity. Caecity means blindness. Anne abhors cherries and didn't eat any, she isn't going blind. As for us, it appears that the foolish ignoramus, Al, who consumed too many cherries, is the most blinded of us all," Drea explains. "And before you ask, an ignoramus is a person of low intelligence."

Al gasps. "I'm not stupid! Wait, is this thing permanent? If it is, I'm gonna die!"

I roll my eyes and recline in bed, sighing. So stupid of me to eat those damn cherries. Because of my small frame I can probably survive to the end of the Bug Extermination with only my food pills. Because I was so damn _stupid_ to crave some taste, I'm partially blind. There is a thick, milky white haze over everything. The fact that the hospital beds, walls and furniture are all white does not help.

Stupid stupid stupid! How could I be such an idiot?

Liam glares at Al. "Shut your hole, igramus. You're gonna die. Duh. It's obvious, we know it, no need to tell us and be so dramatic!"

"Ignoramus," Drea corrected. "But I get the gist of Liam's words. You ought to be less melodramatic, Al. It is rather unbecoming of you."

"Oh, quit it with your nerd talk, Drea!" William bellows. "You're smarter than us and we get it! Speak in normal English for once!"

Anne heaves a sigh. "Guys, calm down. You need to—"

"Oh, shut the hell up! You're a bad leader and you know it! If I were leader though …" Liam trails off.

This is exactly what I don't need—disharmony in the team. I can't allow Liam and William to defeat Anne and become leaders. If they do so, I know they will kick Al and I out of the team. I can't allow that to happen.

We have been so stupid. We didn't grab Ivan's supplies. We let Liam and William into the team. We didn't grab extra backpacks. Stupid!

I pick up the pillbox that is my goodie and read the slip of paper.

 _Red pill—grants consumer with increased strength and fearlessness for 1 hour  
Blue pill—consumer experiences loss of appetite and requires only half the food he/she usually requires for two days  
Green pill—accelerates healing of minor wounds and helps remove toxins in the body_

I quickly open the pillbox. Nine pills lie in it—three pills of each colour listed.

Can the green pill cure me of the blindness? I dash into the bathroom so no one will see me and swallow the pill.

Nothing happens. I wait for a minute.

Suddenly, bile rises to my throat and I throw up all the toxins in my body into the toilet bowl. I squeeze my eyes shut as I retch.

Then, as I stand up on quaky legs, I realise that I can see clearly now. There was a small cut on my arm that has miraculously disappeared. I feel better than ever before.

"Wow …" I murmur. I must not let my teammates know I have these pills—they will force me to share them. I will pretend I got some useless goodie.

I mask my grin with a bored expression and walk back to my bed.

" … speaking of idiots … Rickard! Come here!" Liam snaps.

I hide the pills in my pocket. "What?"

"You hurt me!"

I remember when Ivan kicked me and the knife went flying out of his hand. How it had flew and cut a long, deep gash across Liam's leg.

"That … was not my fault!"

"It is true," Anne admits. "He is not to blame. Al was the one who indirectly caused your wound. He alerted the horrible Centipede to Rickard's presence, causing the Centipede to kick Rickard and send the knife slipping from his grasp, only to hit you in the leg. But it isn't Al's fault either."

"No! I didn't do anything!" Al protests.

Liam shakes his head. "No. It was Rickard's knife that hit me. He was the one who didn't hold his knife tightly enough. Which idiot holds their knife so loosely anyway?"

"It wasn't my fault!" I protest. "I had no control over the matter! He kicked me! I'm nine. I'm only nine and I had to … I had to kill a man! Excuse me for being scared! Excuse me for not holding the knife tight enough! Drea's right! It's Al's fault. He was the one who—"

"Shut up!" Liam yells. "It's your fault and I say so! Now I have to think of a suitable punishment …" He smirks and starts to pace around my bed. "Hmm … do you want to see my goodie?"

"But … but …" I scoot back on my bed. Curse him! He's really so dumb not to see that this is all Al's fault!

"Liam." Anne shoots up from her chair, causing it to go flying back. "I will not tolerate this. I am the leader and I say that we forget this matter. Leave Rickard alone!"

"You finally got some gets, didya?" William barks, standing to defend Liam. "Finally started to use your power? Well, it's too late. You're dead."

Oh no. Oh no. There's going to be a fight. I climb off my bed and grab my backpack. I'm ready to bolt if I need to.

"You two! Out!" Anne shrieks. "I've had enough of you, you bastard! You don't belong here anymore. Now get out or I'll get my knife and—"

I know she won't. Anne can't hurt a fly. This is all talk.

Then, all of a sudden, William lunges toward her, slamming his fist into her stomach.

I squeal in horror. Al cries. Drea grabs her knife and slides it across the floor to Anne. "Kill him!" she yells.

Drea doesn't want to jump into the fight. But Anne won't win. She can't.

I turn and dash towards the door. I'm leaving. No way Anne can win. She's going to die today and I don't want to be here to see the consequences. I will die if I stay.

Just as I am reaching for the doorknob, someone crosses my path to block me. I cry out in terror.

It's Liam. "You're a little coward, aren't you?" he snarls. "Running away. Playing dead. Leaving your friends."

I try to dive down between his legs, but he catches me by the back of my shirt and pulls me away. He holds me in the air by my collar. I tiptoe on the ground, trying to pull away from his grip. Perhaps I could rip the fabric of my shirt.

"Please please let me go," I beg. "I'll go away. I'll never see you again. I'll—"

"I want to see you dead," Liam snarls. "You hurt me. That can kill me. I want to personally see you dead."

Only now do I realise exactly how dangerous Liam is. I underestimated him. I thought he was a big, lumbering oaf without a brain cell in his body.

I can't live unless Liam dies.

I glance down at Liam's bloody leg. The fabric of his pant leg is red and bandages have been wrapped around the wound. I take a deep breath and kick Liam in his wound.

Liam lets out a piercing wail and drops me. I tumble to the ground as he kneels on the floor, gasping in pain.

I look back at Anne and William. The boy batters her with a barrage of punches. Anne still grips the knife, but she holds it away from the two of them. She won't fight him. She can't. She raises a weak arm to protect her face, but William bats it away and punches her on the mouth.

Al whimpers from under a hospital bed.

"Stop!"

Liam is still kneeling on the ground. Anne and William freeze.

Drea points her gun at William. "Freeze. All of you."

"Whoa! Don't shoot, woman!" William cries.

Drea keeps the gun trained on him. "For the record, I'm thirteen. Not a woman. And Liam, try anything and I'll shoot him."

William smirks. "Oh yeah? What if I …" He grabs Anne by the hair and pulls her in front of him, effectively turning her into a meat shield. "Go ahead. Shoot. See who you hit."

He is smarter than we give him credit for.

I glance at Drea. Carefully, I reach over to the whimpering Liam and push two fingers into the wound between his bandages, which tore during the struggle. I twist and gouge into his bloodied flesh.

Liam roars in pain. "You little bastard!" He swats me across the face. I fall back and scramble away. I'm going to die for this.

William drops his guard in shock, and Drea lurches forward, shooting him in the face. He screams, dropping Anne and collapsing to writhe and wriggle on the ground.

Then she turns to point the gun at Liam.

I scoot backward and look at my bloody fingers. I feel sick, even though it's not my blood.

"You … bitches," Liam breathes. He raises his hands in the position of surrendering.

"Liam, I don't … I don't want this," Anne says. "We need to work together. We have to. Liam, if I let you become leader—"

"No!" I blurt out. "Don't! He wants to kick out Al and I! If he becomes leader that is exactly what he will do!"

Anne waves her hand dismissively. "I'm getting to that. Now, if you swear not to kill any of us or kick us out, I'll let you be co-leader."

"Hah! Why do I need to do that? All I must do is mutiny against you!"

"If you do so we'll kick your ass!" Al pipes up. So he finds his voice _after_ the fight is over.

"Liam, you don't get it," Drea chides. "If you are co-leader, you get what you want without using force. You have a big say in whatever that happens. All you cannot do is kill us or kick us out. Working with Anne is rather simple. All you've got to do is order her around. Anne will listen. She—"

"Oh she'll listen. That weak-minded little cunt," William mutters to himself.

Anne does not say a word.

"Attack us however …" Drea spreads her arms grandly. "You may die in the attempt. You saw how we defeated you. You can't take us all on."

"And if you kill us, how will you cure your wound?" I interject. "You and William don't know how to heal you. Only Anne and Drea do."

This strikes a chord in Liam. He glares at us, then sighs.

"You win this time. But once I am better, you had better be careful. Now go away. I don't know how to help William, but go away anyway. " He turns to William, who lies whimpering on the ground.

Drea nods graciously. "Why, I am very much obliged for your attention." She is back to the well-spoken, calm, harmless girl. But I know not to underestimate Liam and Drea.

Anne walks towards me. "I'm sorry for all of this, Rickard. We … we behaved badly. Please forget this."

"It's okay Anne, I don't—"

"Hey, it's fine Anne. It'll all be fine," Drea cuts in. She gives me a friendly smile. "Hey, Rickard, I think you left a stink in the toilet when you threw up earlier. Mind coming in with me so we can do something about it?"

I know a ruse when I see one. Still, I pretend to duck my head in embarrassment and nod. "Oh okay. Sorry about that."

"No problem," Drea says smoothly.

We walk into the toilet, which does not smell of anything. Almost immediately, Drea's kindly expression is wiped off. She paces around in the small area.

"Liam and William will attack again. You know it. Anne and Al are useless in this. I wouldn't mind if Anne stepped down, but we can't allow Liam to be leader. He'll get us all killed."

I cock my head, pretending to be the innocent little nine-year old. "What are you talking about?" But my heart pounds. Drea wouldn't speak to me in this manner unless she knew my game, knew that I was older and smarter than I appear to be.

"Don't play dumb anymore Rickard. How old are you, actually? You are not nine."

I see no point in trying to continue the lie now that Drea knows. If I knew she was so smart I would have been more careful. But she won't tell on me, will she? Especially since she appears to see me as an equal. She won't benefit from telling on me.

"I'm only ten, Drea. I lied for Anne's pity. You know she has a bottomless pit of it in her heart. Of course, you know I'm smarter than the average ten year old."

"Only ten? Impressive. Well, no matter. I need to ensure that Liam and William do not come after us again.

"That's simple." Why does she ask me such a simple question? She doesn't need my help for this! I bring out a few cherries I have in my pocket. "Sneak this in their food and their water. Soon they'll be too blind to attack us."

"My, my, very devious indeed, Rickard. But don't you think they will become a burden? Won't they slow us down?"

"Then we shan't overdo it."

Drea nods and opens the door for me. "Thank you. But do remember one thing …"

She leans down to whisper in my ear. "You're still weak. Physically I can defeat you anytime. I know what a manipulative little bastard you are now. You will want to use me even though I know your secret."

I laugh. Drea doesn't scare me now.

"Well, Drea, does Man have claws? Fur? Sharp teeth? Venom? Are we like savage animals in the forest?"

"No."

"But who comes out on the top? Who is the King of the World? Which is the mightiest species? It's us, Man. And why?"

"Because of our intelligence."

"Correct." Now I feel as if I am taller than her, older than her, better than her. "And intelligence, Drea, is the exact reason why I will come out on top above you."


	7. Chapter 4, Desirae POV

**Yay! More than a hundred views! 109 views to be precise. But the thing is, why does part 5 have more views than part 2?**

 **Desirae POV**

I huddle on the wooden ground, swathed in ripped up luxury blankets. Technically I could sit on the bed and sleep, but I don't want to. It's soft and comfortable and I feel vulnerable on it.

Theo has vanished. Some of us heard his screams, but no one knows where he is. No one wants to say that he was probably killed by the Centipede. Only Myrtle knows his number, but she refuses to tell us so we can search on the HUCR.

"We aren't going to trust some stupid machine," she said. "We'll find him. We will."

Ryan commanded Phil to dispose of the body, but not before we practically tore it apart. We searched the body for hidden weapons and supplies. All we found was a knife, but at least we managed to take his bag.

After that, Ryan had thrown the Centipede's own axe into the corpse's chest and started to quite literally, tear it apart, as if he were the one who had killed the Centipede. He wanted to burn it, but Diane told him that the smoke would probably attract Centipedes.

Thank goodness for common sense.

I opted to move to another house because one, I didn't want to be in the house where the Centipede had been killed. Two, surely Centipedes who heard the commotion will come running to the house.

"Is anything wrong, Desirae?" Cat finds me in my room and comes to sit next to me.

"We just killed a man."

Cat lets out a disbelieving laugh. "Desirae? What? He was going to _kill_ us. He was a pervert. He was between us and our freedom to live."

"He had a family," I choke out. "He was a son. He may even have had a wife and kids. And he … I'm sure he was brought up to believe that we are sub-human. That we are nothing better than animals. It isn't his fault."

"Yes it _is_ ," Cat presses. "Did he not have morals? He knew he was murdering … _torturing_ living, breathing sentient humans. And he took sadistic joy in killing Bugs like us. _No one_ could have done that unless they were evil."

I don't have anything to say.

"Besides," Cat adds, "if someone had to die, would you rather it be him or us? He was a man with evil in his heart. We're children. We're good. _We_ deserve to live more than he did."

I shake my head. "Killing is evil."

"He killed people like us. And not because he had to. Because he _liked_ to. What we did was in pure self-defense."

I shake my head. Evil or not, he's gone now. I wonder how it must be like to die—to cease to exist, to be gone. To just be gone. How can it be possible?

That makes me even more terrified of death. I must survive. But to do it I must kill others and watch my friends die around me. How can I possibly do that? I shake my head again.

Cat throws her arms in the air in defeat. "Well, if you want to be _guilty_ about acting in self-defense, fine by me. But just know I'm not going to trust any killing to you."

And she leaves.

I have to resist the urge to call out after her to come back. But I can't. I still stand by my argument that killing the Centipede was bad. I will not relinquish it.

That makes me think though. Sometimes there's no way to do the right thing. If I don't kill the Centipedes, then I'll be letting other Bugs get killed. But killing the Centipedes isn't right either—killing isn't right.

I don't sleep well that night.

When I wake up, I have the faint notion that I had a nightmare, but I have no idea what it was about.

My vision seems to have mostly cleared. It is barely cloudy anymore.

We assemble in the living room. I curl up on a ripped up couch and listen to Ryan.

" … it was a good fight we put up yesterday. I commend Catherine for her courage and braveness. Unfortunately, Theo is still lost. Take this as a lesson that we never split up and stick together! We will not abandon anyone. Heed my words; you'll regret it if you don't."

Cat leans over to whisper in my ear, "He was the one who told us to split up and leave you and Myrtle when the Centipede found us. I had to look for you."

I'm not angry or even surprised.

"But this morning, Myrtle agreed to disclose Theo's number," Diane says, standing up.

"I thought … I thought we ought to have some closure," Myrtle murmurs.

So she has finally accepted that Theo is either dead or dying.

Ryan takes out his HUCR. "Myrtle?"

"Twenty-five," she mutters quietly.

As Ryan types in the number I think maybe, maybe Theo is alive. Perhaps we was captured and all we must do is locate him. Maybe he's lost. Maybe he's injured. Maybe he …

"He's dead," Ryan declares emotionlessly.

Myrtle blinks and turns away. Cat looks down nervously. Jon and Phil start to mutter. Diane sighs, looking sad. But I know she doesn't care.

I feel a sinking in my heart. "I knew it," I murmur.

Ryan claps his hands after a moment. "Alright, people, here's an important thing we must address. Diane has raised the fact that this house isn't safe. It's too exposed. If we're trapped it'll be difficult to escape. So we must move."

"Where to?" I ask.

Ryan glares at me. "I'm getting to that," he says harshly.

"Um, I think we should stay in an enclosed area with many exits. That'll allow us to escape easily but we'll still be protected from the elements," Jon says. His shoulder has been wrapped with fresh bandages from a first aid kit Myrtle got from the Centipede's bag. No one else fought her for it because she has a lot of medical knowledge. Apparently, that's why Ryan let her into the team.

"No," Diane replies. "Even if there are many exits they can all be blocked or booby-trapped. And the weather seems fine. It isn't a problem for us, I think. No, I say we go back to the cherry trees."

The boys look a little unhappy about it, but they stay quiet. I suppose they want to please Diane.

I don't know why Diane manages to command their attention and interest so well. She's very pretty, but that is all. There must be something behind it.

Myrtle frowns. "I don't think it is a good idea. What if it's too open—"

"Quiet!" Ryan roars. "Diane said so … so, um … remember I told you that if you don't want to be kicked out, you'll be good. Shut up and listen!"

Personally I agree with Diane's reasoning. Amongst the cherry trees, we can run away easily. Indoors we can be cornered easily. Unless …

Ryan won't accept an idea if it comes from me. I tell it to Cat.

She speaks up. "What if we stick to the original plan and we're constantly on the move? Then if a Centipede comes across us it won't be that hard to flee. He'll probably get at least one of us but if we stay in one spot, it'll be harder to run away."

Diane looks a little surprised. "That's a good idea."

Since Diane says that, Ryan shrugs. "Alright. But what about sleeping arrangements? What if a Centipede comes across us while we're sleeping?"

Phil shrugs. "I suppose we can just sleep somewhere high up where they may not see us in the dark."

"Well, if they do see us, then we're screwed. We won't be able to run. We'd be trapped," I argue.

"But we'll have the higher ground! We can kill them easily from up there?" Phil says.

"What's stopping them from shooting us or disabling us with their high-tech weapons?" I counter.

Diane sighs. "Let's deal with that later. But I think that we should have two people stand guard."

She's right. Soon we're moving again. But amongst the cherry trees, I hear something rushing.

"Guys stop. I hear something," I whisper.

My heart pounds and I have to try not to gulp and gasp.

"Where?" Jon whispers.

I point to my right. Ryan pats Diane on the back. "Don't worry, I'll be back in a jiffy." Then he's gone.

Phil glances at Diane, then putting on an air of false bravado, follows suit. Jon hangs back. I can't blame him—he's badly injured. Myrtle said the blade went down to his bone.

Me? I'm happy to stay behind.

After a tense moment, I start to slink back. "Maybe we should um, stay back and um—"

"It's fine!" I hear a shout. It's Ryan. "Come here! It's awesome!"

Jon jogs forward while I stay close to the back, in case it's a trap. The rushing gets louder and louder. Only then do I realise it is water.

I rush forward, my initial wariness forgotten. I peer through the cherry trees and see clear water bursting through a pile of rocks. The water hits the rocks loudly and pools on the ground, turning the soil damp.

Ryan and Phil stand next to it, grinning so widely that they look more than just a little ridiculous. Their heads are wet.

"Wow!" Jon runs forward and cups his hands around the water source, allowing the water to pool in his hands. He splashes the water and his grimy face. "This is amazing."

"Wait!" Diane calls. "What if the water is not safe, like the cherries? We can't drink it unless we purify it!"

Ryan and Phil's eyes widen. "W-we … drank that water," Phil murmurs.

"Well, shit," Ryan mutters darkly.

"It's too late," I say. "We'll just have to hope for the best."

Suddenly Ryan gasps. "No. We don't. All we need is our canary. Our canary in the coal mine."

I know what he means. The term is an allusion to canaries that miners would bring into the mines with them. If the air in the mine was unsafe, the canary would die, letting the miners know that it wasn't safe to be there and they would get out immediately.

He wants to test it out on somebody.

"Myrtle." He snatches her water bottle and pours out all the water.

"Hey!" Myrtle cries. Ryan ignores her and fills her water bottle with the water from the water source. Then he passes it to her.

"Here, Myrtle. You do the honours."

Myrtle stares at the water bottle. "You … you want me to drink it?"

Ryan gives her a snaky smile. "Yes. And if anything happens to you, then we know we can't drink it."

"But … you and Phil already drank some water. Why don't we just see what happens to you?" Cat says.

"I want someone to drink the whole bottle. Just in case. Myrtle, if you don't do this, well, you never know. I might just kick you out."

Myrtle grasps the water bottle and slowly raises it to her lips.

I can't let this happen to her.

Just as the first drop of water touches Myrtle's lips, I call out.

"Wait! We can purify the water. I'll show you how. Does anyone have iodine?"

Ryan glares at me. I don't bother getting angry. He is nothing. After facing two Centipedes, Ryan doesn't really matter anymore.

"I do," Myrtle says. "I found a bottle of it in the medical kit from the Centipede. Here." She passes it to me.

I collect the water in my water bottle and drip a few drops of iodine in it. Then I set it on the ground. "Here. Now we wait for half an hour or so. The iodine will purify the water."

It seems like the longest half hour I have ever waited. We take turns to rinse in the water, boys then girls. When I take off my clothes, I think of that horribly perverted Centipede, but immediately tell myself not to.

He's dead. He doesn't matter anymore, I tell myself.

After half an hour, Ryan makes Myrtle drink the water. The first mouthful she takes, she spits it out quickly and scrubs her mouth. "It's bitter! There's something in it!"

"I think it is the iodine," Cat says gently.

We all fill our bottles with the water and put iodine in it.

"Well then," Ryan starts. "I suppose we should camp around here."

Jon shakes his head. "No. The water is too loud. We'll probably be found easily."

Ryan shrugs, annoyed that his ideas have been constantly shot down.

As we settle down amongst the cherry trees later on, I wonder why no one has mourned Theo for long. Why I haven't mourned that unknown Bug who was cannibalised by Claude. Everything beyond this morning feels to be eons ago.

There's this sense of disassociation. The Desirae who used the Bug as a meat shield, fled from Claude, attacked the unknown Centipede … that wasn't me. She's stronger than me. At first thought I feel as if I was a coward then, but I suppose I'm doing something right since I'm still alive.

I think so much that I almost don't hear the gunshot.

We all jump. "God! What was that?" Cat gasps.

Phil stuffs his things into his bag. "I don't know, and I don't wanna find out. Let's go."

There's another gunshot, followed by a scream. This gunshot sounds a lot louder and closer. It feels really, really close.

I hastily pack my bag. I notice that I have difficulty zipping up my bag because my hands are shaking too much. I hold my knife and the metal bedpost from last night.

"Guys, we should go," I say.

"Wait. Not yet," Ryan says stubbornly. "Don't be such a coward."

We wait for a few more seconds. " _Guys?"_ I say, my voice shaking more this time. "Let's. Go."

Phil nods. "Yeah. Let's go!"

Cat and Myrtle stand up. "C'mon."

Then, I hear crashing. Feet hitting the ground. Leaves crunching. And a group of six Bugs burst through.

One of them, a girl with long chocolate brown wavy hair, gasps out, "Run! Run!"

It takes me longer than it should to realise that she is talking to us, and what is going on.

"Run!" I scream. "Run!"

And a Centipede appears.


	8. AN

**Hello, I've decided that this story does not belong on fanfiction .net. It will be posted on fictionpress .com and I'll be using the same username. It will be under the same title. Thanks for your continued support. You guys are really awesome and so is FF .net but I just don't think this is a proper fanfiction. I'll be updating consistently (I hope) on fictionpress and I think it is a really good platform to post my work. Again, thanks so much, especially to Emmeline Phoenix12 and The Emerald Queen 88. You guys are really awesome.**


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